Others in the know have said even though PK doesn't look big, it is a good cut for him at 165. He has "heavy bones" and is never seeing 157. It makes sense for PK to go up and Caliendo to stay at 165 so Gabe can get some matches in during PK's suspension imo.
What will the starting line up look like now?
- Thread starter hawkeyefan201064
- Start date
That’s really what we need to concentrate on, imo. Getting future starters matches asap.
Any chance we see AJ Ferrari this season? Or has that ship sailed? He could be 285 and let Keuter redshirt
Im sure Arnold would step in admirably at 84 but the weight jump might be a bit much against the best. I hope Assad gets a reduction in suspension. I might be wrong but I dont remember seeing an injury free Assad at the end of any of his years yet.
We probably have but people refuse to accept that he’s just not that good and make that excuse for him.
You heard it here first, Spooner’s calling it. The Ferraris are rollin’ out!
I hope Spooner’s right! I would love to field a team that has at least a fighting chance come March…
Yeah that’s not what I was saying.
Adding him wouldn’t just be asinine, but also doesn’t give Iowa a fighting chance.
Adding AJ would give us 3 legit title contenders. If Carl has Brooks and Starcrap take an Olympic year it would definitely give us a really good shot at taking them down. Now if both Ferrari brothers(149,197) were in the lineup I wouldn’t care if both Starcrap and Brooks were wrestling I would say we still have a really good shot at beating them. Now it’s Highly doubtful that happens just hoping Cass and Brands win an appeal I would feel a lot better.
Franek got 4th at 157 and is 100% a contender especially with Robb presumably out of the equation
From what I hear and believe it all depends on the results of his trial the end of Sept. I'd bet if he's able to lawfully wrestle again in college it will be at Iowa second semester, or whenever determined. Hearing he's taking remote classes to regain his progression towards graduation to meet NCAA requirements.
Franek will absolutely be a title contender. Haines, Franek, Andonian, Jacori Teemer, Robb (longshot with health), Will Lewan could all win a title at this weight. It is pretty wide open
That could be. I always see him (the way he is wrestling) as a high potential AA at the beginning of the season but something always seems to change mid to late season for him. Im just not sure if anyone other than Assad gives us a good chance for AA at 184, maybe Nelson or Gabe but think the weight would be a problem for them. I think Gabe is a 4x AA but at 174 after a red shirt year.
Really? That would be nice. I had no idea he was at that level yet. Who has he beat so far?
Using Intermat preseason rankings, Ayala is ranked #13.
He has wins over #'s 8, 14, 17 and losses to 5, 7, and 12.
McKee has his number so far(beat Drake 4 times Freshman year). An argument could be made that injuries played a role in a few of the other loses, but being healthy is part of the equation.
My opinion, 125 is wide open. So wide open that I see at least 6 wrestlers that could win the weight and another dozen or so that could make the podium.
i personally put Drake's skillset on the same level as anyone at the weight. If he is fully recovered and relatively injury-free come March, I think he is a contender.
From what we last saw of him, Ayala is not well-rounded enough to be a title contender. Great on his feet, very average on the mat. He's not dominant enough on his feet to overcome that. With the injuries, it's hard to have confidence he's developed that much, but we'll see.
Could 100% see him placing, but not winning. Too many holes in his game to beat that many guys in a row in one weekend.
However, if there's a guy capable of making a big jump this year, he makes the most sense.
Small sample size and all, but Jore Volk looked much better against Spencer than Drake Ayala did last year in Coralville. We haven't seen any progress from him yet IMO.
Hard to make that comparison, maybe? Ayala went for it and that’s what can happen if you open up against SL.
Don't necessarily disagree with your above point.
To take it a bit further, who do you feel(other than McKee) has a top game that could give Ayala trouble?
Or are you talking more in the sense that he may not be able to put on a tough ride/end periods on top/get quick escapes in tight matches?
It isn't that he was better early, it's that the competition gets tougher as the season goes on. Outside of a win over Venz (who's handled Abe 3 times since) the pool of big wins is pretty shallow for Abe.
I'm pulling for him, and agree he's our best 184, but also have to call a spade a spade.
Ramos, Noto and Figs are all going to give Ayala trouble on top.
It's definitely a toss up of a weight and everything depends on Ayala's health. A good shoulder? He can find himself in the top 4 (have a hard time seeing him beating Noto or Ramos even if healthy).
Not healthy? He ain't AAing.
Im worried about how much mat time with our older guys that Ayala has had since his injuries.
If he had no injuries I would think he would be head and shoulders better by now in refs positions.
The amount of live wrestling since the beginning of last season will be the determining factor whether he is in the top 8 or not, IMO.
If he had no injuries I would think he would be head and shoulders better by now in refs positions.
The amount of live wrestling since the beginning of last season will be the determining factor whether he is in the top 8 or not, IMO.
Those guys give everyone trouble on top. That’s not exactly going out on a limb. Besides, last time we saw him on bottom he was a freshman. All freshman struggle on bottom. He’s now in his third year in the room. Though, the three you mentioned will likely give most people issues, that said, I can’t see us in mid March saying man I wish Drake was better on bottom. I think he’ll be just fine.
Drake has an elite lefty sweep single. A very good slide by and a dang good high crotch. I expect a high AA finish with an outside shot at making the finals. I’d like to see him healthy before I write that in anything other than pencil.
125 is just very hard to predict this year. Would anyone be surprised to see a guy out of this group make the finals? Using Intermat rankings 12-Jakob Camacho, 13- Drake Ayala, 16- Jore Volk, 23- Troy Sprately. There are not any other weight classes, in my opinion, that are as wide open as 125.
